Grading the JJ Peterka trade: Mammoth go big as Sabres get lowballed

Anthony Trudeau
Anthony Trudeau(atrud00)
Jun 26, 2025, 11:36 EDT
Grading the JJ Peterka trade: Mammoth go big as Sabres get lowballed
Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

If you live in the Eastern Time Zone and have a healthy bedtime, you may have missed the late-night blockbuster that sent JJ Peterka to Salt Lake City. Where the Trevor Zegras and Evander Kane deals were notable for their namesake stars but otherwise inevitable, this was a real jaw-dropper. 

Once Peterka, a 23-year-old with star potential, seemed to indicate he’d be leaving Buffalo one way or the other, the Sabres quickly began fielding offers from the German’s various offer-sheet suitors. That hypothetical offer sheet could easily have landed Buffalo first, second, and third-round picks, so the cost for jumping the line was expected to be exorbitant.

When news broke Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring, a pair of good young players Utah did not part with lightly, were part of the deal, Swords fans thought that was a good start. When news broke that the trade was two-for-one (Doan and Kesselring were the entire return), panic set in, and social media ridicule quickly followed.

Did Utah’s second big trade in as many summers land it a real star? Did the Sabres shoot (stab?) themselves in the foot again? Or is the truth of the swap a bit less dramatic? There’s only one way to find out: the latest edition of Daily Faceoff’s Trade Grades.

Buffalo Sabres

Receive:

F Josh Doan, $925,000 cap hit through 2026
D Michael Kesselring, $1.4 million cap hit through 2026

Trading away Peterka was not in and of itself an insane thing to do. 

The Sabres have at least three contracts (Josh Norris, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson) that were very speculative at the time of signing and have yet to pay off. Peterka was due a payday after his first season of top-six production (28 G, 68 P). It’s doubtful he would have given Buffalo the same team-friendly, $7.7-million AAV discount Utah got. There are no palm trees there, remember, and Peterka would carry plenty of risk at $9 million+.

The Sabres also have the most entrenched losing culture of any team in hockey and have paid premiums for guys like Jordan Greenway and Jason Zucker to help them find their identity. Peterka plays with some attitude, but his inability to backcheck is a product of a leadership vacuum, not a solution to it. Doan and Kesslering have more of the intangibles Buffalo is looking for.

They’re nice players too, especially Kesselring. Last season, the 25-year-old crushed third-pair minutes (56.6% high-danger chance share) and was a capable top-four stand-in during Sean Durzi’s lengthy injury absence. Kesselring is big (6’5), he’s nasty (89 PIM), and he can wire the puck (seven goals). Kesselring has all the makings of the perfect foil for Owen Power on a towering second pair.

Doan, for his part, is a hard-working kid with decent skill (28 P in 62 career GP) who should have more to give on offense (8.0 shooting % in 2024-25), a formula that yielded great results last season for Buffalo in the person of Ryan McLeod (career-high 53 P). 

Peterka isn’t the hockey god some corners of Twitter are suggesting, and Kesselring and Doan will become fast favorites in Western NY. None of that saves Adams from the fact he badly misread the market for his player. 

An offer sheet for Peterka would have started with a first, second, and third. Kesselring and Doan could hypothetically command that price in a bear market for right-handed defensemen. With so many vultures circling Peterka, though, Adams could have easily pitted bidders against each other to squeeze more out of this trade. Leaving meat on the bone has become a theme in Buffalo.

Grade: C 

Utah Mammoth

Receive:

F JJ Peterka, $7.7 million cap hit through 2030 (extended as stipulation of trade)

I may have poured cold water on Peterka in the last section to contextualize why this deal was even possible, but he’s a good player. Peterka is an above-average skater who opportunistically joins the rush, where he does most of his damage. He has a good motor and actually improved as a finisher last season (15.4 shooting %) despite scoring one fewer goal than in 2023-24.

Mammoth fans will doubtlessly dream of a future where Peterka finishes off cross-ice saucer passes from captain Clayton Keller. They’ll have to wait for power plays, then; it’s hard to imagine the top line of Keller, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther is subject to change after showing so much chemistry down the stretch last season. 

Peterka can best elevate Utah’s middling offense (20th in 2024-25) on the second line, where Barrett Hayton, a 200-ft player with some net-front utility (20 G), and Nick Schmaltz, a veteran playmaker (44 A per 82 GP since 2021), struggled to click with anyone not named Keller. Peterka is creative enough to tee up Hayton in the low slot and has enough finish to get out and skate for Schmaltz. 

$7.7 million could conceivably be the going rate for reliable top-six scoring in a few years, so Peterka’s baked-in extension is hardly prohibitive. Neither is the opportunity cost; Kesselring was behind Durzi and veteran hand John Marino in the depth chart, and Doan had yet to unseat veterans like Alex Kerfoot and Lawson Crouse on the PK.

Peterka isn’t going to transform the Mammoth into the ’84 Oilers, but, with no futures attached, this is another smart, splashy trade by GM Bill Armstrong. 

Grade: A-

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Tune in for The Sheet Draft Special, streaming live on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel on Friday, June 27th at 7 PM EST. Hosted by Jeff Marek, this live special will cover all the action from the 2025 Draft, including expert analysis of top prospects, team-by-team breakdowns, and real-time reactions to every pick. Whether you’re tracking your team’s future stars or just love the drama of draft night, this is your go-to destination for all things Draft.

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